Hiccups With a Taste of Maple
by barefoot11
Summary: Matthew gets the hiccups one morning, and Gilbert lends his awesomeness to the poor Canadian. Hinted Prussia/Canada, human names used.


Matthew, when he lay down to sleep the night prior, had looked forward to waking up slowly, for it was a precious Saturday. He wanted to let the sunlight gently lift his lids, and for a rousing yawn to finally lure him completely conscious. He had planned to taking his time picking out the day's outfit and feeding Kumajiro and reminding him of who he was.

Nothing in his plans, though, included a red-eyed Prussian wrenching his shoulder back and forth shouting, "Yo, Matt! Matt, wake up."

Matthew shut his eyes even tighter. "Gilbert," he moaned irritably, shifting on his back and pressing his hands to his eyes. "What are you doing here?" He blearily looked up at him.

Gilbert paused, drinking in the sight of the Canadian's hair very mused, his purple eyes glazed with stubborn sleep, and the way his pajama's shirt was slightly revealing his collar bone… the Prussian cleared his throat loudly, and spoke before his pause could even be accounted for. "I was in the mood for pancakes, and I'm too awesome to make them myself."

He heard something along the lines of 'lazy' from Matthew, but he ignored it. Matthew said instead with a yawn, "So you came all the way to my house? Who… who even let you in?" Sitting up slowly, he looked around. Maybe Alfred had lent the Prussian a key…

Gilbert shrugged. "You make pancakes better than anyone else! And you told me about that spare key last time I was over, remember?"

Oh yeah. When Gilbert had visited last summer (at a very inconvenient and late time, true to his habits) he had pounded on the door so loudly that Matthew had informed him about the key under the mat. He regretted it now.

Growing impatient, Gilbert pressured, "So come on, are you going to get up?"

Matthew gave him a tired half-glare and stood. "I guess I'll make you some. Just go downstairs, eh?"

The Prussian gave a self-satisfied grin, and dashed downstairs.

Matthew sighed heavily, and picked up his glasses. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

Despite having them almost everyday, the Canadian just loved pancakes. And when they were drowned in maple syrup, he'd have thirds without guilt. He couldn't name why he enjoyed them so much, but Gilbert seemed to see the ineffable trait as well.

Glancing over, Matthew saw him close his eyes in bliss as he pulled a piece of pancake from the fork, and heard him hum ever slightly in delight. Seeing Gilbert smile made him smile. Cocking his head to the side a bit, Matthew observed him casually. He was leaned back all the way in the chair, his feet propped up on the table. The newspaper was on his lap, and he was reading the comics, he saw. Matthew found it quite cute that—

A sudden sound scattered his thoughts.

"_Hic_."

He put a hand over his mouth, looking at Gilbert for his reaction. But he saw none. After a handful more hiccups, the Prussian finally looked up. "What's that noise?"

"That's –_hic_– me."

Gilbert frowned, and put his feet back on the ground. He peered at his friend oddly. "Well, can't you turn it off?"

Matthew shook his head.

There was silence, until another hiccup interrupted it.

Gilbert glared and was greeted with a helpless stare. He was done with his pancakes, and there weren't any more comics left… He stood, and walked over to the blonde, leaning toward him until their breaths were close to mingling. "Alright. I'm going to loan you my awesomeness for a while. We're getting rid of those hiccups."

Matthew flushed scarlet at the proximity. He gulped and stammered, "Th-thank you?"

Gilbert smirked and nodded. "You're welcome."

* * *

"It's not going to –_hic_– work," Matthew insisted, shaking his head.

Gilbert just stuck out the glass of water further. "What? Can't you stand on your head?"

He shook his head. "No, –_hic_– but can't I just lean up against the –_hic_– wall?"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "That's not awesome, but fine." Matthew was still obviously flustered, and the Prussian couldn't resist those eyes or that face. He sighed. "I'll hold your ankles. Just… you don't want those hiccups any longer, do you?"

Matthew pressed his lips together. "No," he said reluctantly.

"Then hold the water in your mouth, stand on your head, and hold your breath until I say drink the water!" Gilbert put the water in the Canadian's hands, and then crossed his arms.

He hiccupped and looked into those red orbs for a long moment before taking a sip and filling his cheeks with it. He looked to the silverette for the next step, even though he knew what it was.

Gilbert just watched him for a moment, amused, before taking the water back and saying, "Okay, now get on your head."

Matthew blushed, but complied, and when Gilbert heard his heels hit the wall, he put the glass down and looked at the Canadian. The blonde was severely flushed and squirmed under the gaze. Gilbert laughed, and it was a heavenly sound, then he relieved Matthew of the torture of eye-balling him by walking over and clasping his hands around the man's ankles. "Hold your breath… now!"

Matthew complied and Gilbert began counting into his head. Twenty, silent seconds passed and Gilbert let him go.

The blonde made a noise and fell over. Then he rolled over so that he sat cross-legged on his living room floor. He stared up at the Prussian, waiting. Moments passed, and Gilbert was going to crack a smile when–

"_Hic_."

Matthew sighed heavily. "Sorry."

* * *

Gilbert had one more idea. Just one. He, being the person he was which was so full-of-awe, had never gotten hiccups, so he'd never looked up any cures or gotten tips from his brother. But there was an over-used idea that he hadn't tried yet. He had persuaded the blonde to go upstairs, maybe do a few chores, or anything to keep him busy for a while. Gilbert could hear the faint hiccupping every few seconds. Finally, he called very loudly, "Hey, Matt, can you come in the kitchen for a minute?"

He stood up quickly and ran toward the stairs, chuckling quietly, and hid behind the wall.

When Matthew came downstairs, as called, he was just stepping off the last step when a dark blue blurb came in front of him shouting, "BOO!"

The Canadian jumped, and shouted a bit before loosing his balance, falling forward and into that blur.

So maybe Gilbert hadn't thought that through. Maybe he shouldn't have scared him when he was walking down the stairs and instead of on a flat surface where the falling aspect was very low. Maybe… he shouldn't have held Matthew so tightly when he fell into his arms, and he shouldn't have blushed.

Matthew had his arms around his neck, and he couldn't bring himself to lift his head from his shoulder, too embarrassed. He could feel his heartbeat race against his frantic thoughts.

Gilbert felt the shorter man's breath against his neck and that ultimately brought him back to reality. Never in his life had Gilbert been flustered visibly, and he wasn't about to let that reputation go. He found his voice and very quickly said, "Are your hiccups gone?"

Matthew blinked a few times then took a breath. "U-U-Um…! I-I-I don't kn-know!"

They waited for a few, prolonged moments in silence, waiting for any little "hic". But none came.

Gilbert grinned. "Yes!"

Matthew was just waiting for his mind to tell him to _move_. He was going to have a heart attack if he didn't move away now.

"Aha!" Gilbert did it for him, stepping back and putting the Canadian's head in his hands. "Told you I could fix it." He winked.

Matthew felt himself reduced to a pile of mush on the inside, but the other man didn't seem aware of it at all. It irked him only slightly, as the man went into a self-appreciating rant. The Canadian just waited patiently (as was his virtue) until the silverette realized what a position he was in… and the reaction was priceless.

Gilbert frowned, and the color that his face turned Matthew would remember forever. The blonde smiled, and the Prussian dropped his hands and coughed. "Glad I was here, huh? If I wasn't so awesome, they probably wouldn't have gone away."

Matthew's lips twitched upwards in a soft smile. "Yep."

* * *

**A/N**: First fanfic~! Just thinking that I've read so much fanfiction that I probably should give back to the community… though I'm not that good at fanfiction. xD This story ended very oddly, I think; I was going to end it with a kiss but then I didn't. D: It also... ah, I don't know. The idea I just couldn't let go of... so! I do have an Germany/Italy idea that I could write, maybe.

R&R!

P.S.: And if you have a better title, please…


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